Presented at the 4th meeting of the Minpaku Linguistics Circle, Osaka, November 22, 2013

1. “Epenthetic vowels” in Nahuatl:
Are they really epenthetic?
Mitsuya SASAKI
University of Tokyo, JSPS research fellow
Minpaku Linguistics Circle #4
November 22, 2013
1

2. Abstract
So-called “supportive” /i/’s in Nahuatl
– Can they be explained phonologically?
(i)CC- stems
– Deletion analysis can be explain the
complicated patterns of “supportive” /i/’s
more neatly than the epenthesis analysis
2

3. Preliminary remarks
3

4. Nahuatl: an overview
Southern Uto-Aztecan
1,500,000 speakers mainly in Mexico
Polysynthetic, head-marking
Productive noun incorporation
Simple phoneme inventory
No distinctive tone or stress (in most dialects)
4

5. Nahuan languages/dialects
“Nahuatl”
Classical Nahuatl
Occidental
Nuclear
Tetelcingo
Central
“General Aztec”
Nahuan
Ixquihuacán
Huasteca
Puebla-Tlaxcala
Pochutec (†)
Tenango
Oriental
Pipil
Today we will discuss Classical Nahuatl
The presenter is working on Puebla-Tlaxcala dialects,
but there are not enough data yet
5

6. Phoneme inventory of CN
4 vowels (long and short respectively)
– i e a o i: e: a: o:
15 consonants
– p t k kw ʔ m n s š ts č λ l y w
No distinctive stress or tone
– Stress falls on the second-to-last syllable
6

7. Phonotactics of CN
Syllable structure: (C)V(C)
– No *CC clusters word-initially or finally
– No *CCC cluster
Hiatus occurs frequently
7

8. Behavior of saltillo (/ʔ/)
/ʔ/ appears only in coda
– /iʔiyoʔ/ ‘powerful’ → /iʔ.i.yoʔ/
/ʔ/ shortens preceding long vowels
– /siwa:/ + /ʔ/ → /siwaʔ/ ‘women’ (*/siwa:ʔ/)
Written as accent marks on preceding vowels
– cihuâ /siwaʔ/ ‘women’ ; nènemi /neʔnemi/ ‘he walks’
8

9. “Epenthesis” in Nahuatl
9

10. Example: absolutive -λ ~ -λi
λe-λ
‘fire’
masa:-λ
‘deer’
šo:či-λ
‘flower’
oʔ-λi
‘road’
λa:n-λi
‘tooth’
te:lpo:č-λi
‘young man’
10

11. Cases of vowel deletion/epenthesis in CN
Subject person prefixes: /C/~/Ci/
3sg object person prefix: /k/~/ki/
Reflexive person prefixes: /C/~/Co/
Possessive person prefixes: /(V)C/~/(V)Co/
Absolutive-state suffix /λ/~/λi/
Possessive-state suffix /w/~/wi/
11

12. Cases of vowel deletion/epenthesis in CN
(i)CC- noun/verb stems: /iCC/~/CC/
Agent-nominal deriving suffix /k/~/ki/
Adjective ending /k/~/ki/
Verb-compounding suffix /t/~/ti/
Deletion of stem-final “ephemeral” /a/, /i/
-CC# noun stems: /CCi/~/CC/
… and still more
12

13. Examples of “i-epenthesis” in Nahuatl
First-person singular subject prefix n(i)– /n/ before a V:
n- e:wa
‘I depart’
– /ni/ before a C:
ni- nemi
‘I live’
Third-person singular object prefix k(i)(word-initially)
– /k/ before a V:
k- a:na
‘he catches it’
– /ki/ before a C:
ki- po:wa
‘he reads it’
13

14. Examples of “i-epenthesis” in Nahuatl
Combination of 1sgS n(i)- and 3sgO k(i)-:
– ni-k-a:na
‘I catch it’
– ni-k-po:wa
‘I read it’
*nikipo:wa
Combination of 2plS am- and 3sgO k(i)-:
– am-k-a:naʔ (> anka:naʔ)
‘you (pl.) catch it’
– am-ki-po:waʔ (> ankipo:waʔ) ‘you (pl.) read it’
14

15. Explanation of /i/~Ø
Epenthesis?
Deletion?
Lexical allomorphy?
15

16. “Epenthesis” analysis
The /i/’s in n(i)-, k(i)-, … might be
analyzed as epenthetic (supportive) vowels
(Andrews 1975, Tuggy 1981)
They break consonant clusters not
allowed in the Classical Nahuatl (C)V(C)
syllable structure: *#CC, *CCC
16

17. “Textbook case” for epenthesis
Egyptian Arabic: *CCC→CCiC (Itô 1989)
– /ʔultlu/ → /ʔultilu/
‘I said to him’
– /katabtlu/ → /katabtilu/
‘I wrote to him’
– /katabt dars/ → /kabtidars/ ‘you wrote a
lesson’
Purely phonological and/or metrical
17

18. Simple epenthesis analysis
#CC → #CiC
– *n-nemi
‘I live’
→ ninemi
– *k-po:wa
‘he reads it’
→ kipo:wa
– *n-k-a:na
‘I catch it’
→ nika:na
CCC → CCiC
– am-k-po:waʔ ‘you (pl.) read it’ → ankipo:wa
18

19. Problems with the simple analysis
Past-tense o:= never intaracts with epenthesis
– o:=n-yaʔ
‘I went’ →
o:niyaʔ
CCC → CiCC or CCiC?
– *n-k-po:wa ‘I read it’
→ nikpo:wa (CiCC)
– *am-k-po:wa ‘you (pl.) read it’
→ ankipo:wa (CCiC)
19

20. Syllabification
σ
σ
n
σ
i
k p o: w a
Output: nikpo:wa
unlicensed
σ
σ
a m k
i p o: w a
σ
σ
Output: ankipo:wa
unlicensed
20

21. Tuggy’s generalization
Epenthesis occurs only at morpheme
boundaries
Ø→i/
#
C
C
#
C_ +
C
#
_+C
C
#
(Tuggy 1981)
21

22. Explanation according to Tuggy
*n-k-po:wa ‘I read it’
→ nikpo:wa
*am-k-po:wa ‘you (pl.) read it’
→ ankipo:wa
Ø→i/
#
C
C
#
C_ +
C
#
_+C
C
#
22

23. Problems with (i)CC- stems
23

24. Characteristic of (i)CC- stems
Most noun/verb stems beginning with
iCC- lose their initial /i/’s in certain
environments: iCC ~ CC
– “su i inicial se embebe” (Carochi 1645)
– “supportive vowel” (Andrews 1975)
24

25. Examples of (i)CC- stems
(i)ʔtoa: ‘to say’:
– iʔto:-lo
‘it is said’
– λa-ʔtoa
‘he says something’
(i)kši- ‘foot’:
– ikši-λ
‘foot’
– no-kši
‘my foot’
25

26. Puzzle #1: when does the /i/ appear?
26

27. Examples: (i)CC- verb
(i)lpia: ‘to tie’
– Ø-ilpi:-lo (3sgS-tie-INACT) ‘he is bound’
– ni-k-ilpia (or ni-ki-lpia?) (1sgS-3sgO-tie) ‘I bind him’
– ni-no-lpia (1sgS-REFL-tie) ‘I bind myself’
– ni-λa-lpia (1sgS-something-tie)
‘I tie something’ (*nitlailpia)
– ni-te:-ilpia (1sgS-someone-tie)
‘I bind someone’ (*nite:tta)
– Ø-te:-toska-ilpia (1sgS-3sgO-throat-tie)
‘it tightens someone’s throat’ (*te:toskalpia)
27

28. (i)CC- and preceding items
(i)CC- stems have the /i/ word-initially
(i)CC- stems lose the /i/ when preceded by:
– Unspecified nonhuman object prefix λa– Reflexive prefix ne-
etc.
(i)CC- stems have the /i/ when preceded by:
– Incorporated nouns
– Unspecified human object prefix te:- etc.
Cf. Tuggy (1981, 1997)
28

29. Puzzle #1
Some prefixes (λa-, ne-, etc.) trigger
“i-drop” of the following iCC- stem
Other prefixes (te:-) and incorporated nouns
(toska- ‘throat’ etc.) do not trigger “i-drop”
The behavior of reflexive/possessive prefixes
n(o)- etc. will be discussed later
Cf. Tuggy (1981, 1997)
29

30. Verbal affixation template
i-drop
in iCC-
Type of morpheme
Example
Subject person prefix
n(i)-, t(i)-, Ø-, etc.
Object person prefix
ne:č, mits, k(i)-, etc.
Directional prefix
on-, wa:l-
Reflexive prefix (I)
no-, to-, mo-, (ne-)
Partly
Unspecified human object prefix
te:-
✕
Unspecified nonhuman object
prefix
λa-
✓
Reflexive prefix (II)
ne-
✓
INCORPORATED NOUN
-
✕
STEM
-
TAM/plural suffix
-k (past), etc.
30

31. Puzzle #2: (i)ʔC- stems and other
(i)CC- stems behave differently
31

32. (i)CC- stems and reflexive/possessive
prefixes
(i)ʔC- stems and other (i)CC- stems
behave differently when preceded by
reflexive/possessive pronominal prefixes
– (i)ʔC- stems: /i/ is retained
– other (i)CC- stems: /i/ drops
32

33. Reflexive / possessive prefixes
Reflexive prefixes
Singular
Second person
Third person
n(o)m(o)m(o)-
t(o)m(o)m(o)-
Singular
First person
Plural
Plural
n(o)m(o)i:-
t(o)am(o)i:m-
Possessive prefixes
First person
Second person
Third person
33

34. Reflexive/possessive prefixes with /o/:
_C vs. _V
Reflexive prefixes n(o)-, t(o)-, m(o)– ni-no-λa:lia (1sgS-REFL-seat) ‘I sit down’
– ni-n-a:ltia (1sgS-REFL-bather) ‘I bathe myself’
Possessive prefixes n(o)-, m(o)-, etc.
– no-kal (1sgP-house) ‘my house’
– n-a:ška: (1sgP-belonging) ‘my belonging(s)’
34

35. Reflexive/possessive prefixes with /o/
and (i)CC- stems
Reflexive/possessive n(o)-, m(o)-, etc. lose
the /o/ before (non-supportive) vowels
Then, what happens if n(o)-, m(o)-, etc.
are followed by (i)CC- stems?
35

36. Reflexive/possessive prefixes with /o/
and (i)CC- stems
(i)ʔC- stems: /o/ disappears (usually)
– Ø-m-iʔtoa (3sgS-REFL-say) ‘it is said’
– n-iʔwi-w (1sgP-feather-POSS) ‘my feather’
Other (i)CC- stems: /o/ is retained
– Ø-mo-tta (3sgS-REFL-see) ‘he sees himself’
– no-kši (1sgP-foot) ‘my foot’
36

37. Third-person singular possessive prefix i:and (i)CC- stems
(i)ʔC- stems
–
Probably i:-iʔC- forms were more common
–
i:-iʔwi-yo: ‘its feather’ → <ihiviio>, <jhiviio>, <iiviio>, etc. in
Florentine Codex
–
i:-iʔti-k ‘inside it’ → <iitic>, <jitic>, <yitic>, etc. in Florentine Codex
• However, <itic>, <ytic>, etc. are also commonly attested
Other (i)CC- stems
–
Both i:-CC- and i:-iCC- are attested, the former being more
common in Florentine Codex
–
i:-čpoč ‘his daughter’ → <ichpuch>, <ichpoch>, etc.
–
i:-kši (3sgP-foot) ‘his foot’ → <icxi>, <jxci>, etc; also <jicxi>, etc.
37

38. Puzzle #2
(i)ʔC- stems and other (i)CC- stems
behave differently when preceded by some
reflexive/possessive prefixes, although
they behave identically after other prefixes
38

39. Why?
In CN, /ʔ/ is the only consonant which
affects the preceding vowel
– /ʔ/ appears only in coda (i.e. in rhyme)
– /ʔ/ shortens the preceding vowel
However, after λa-, ne-, etc. /ʔ/ behaves
exactly like other consonants
39

40. Summary of puzzles #1 and #2
(i)CC- stems lose their /i/’s before:
–
λa- (unspecified nonhuman object)
–
ne- (reflexive)
–
etc.
Only (i)ʔC- stems, but not other (i)CC- stems, retain their
/i/’s before:
–
Reflexive/possessive prefixes which end with /o/: no-, mo-, etc.
–
(Commonly but not always) 3sgP i:-
No (i)CC- stems lose their /i/’s before:
–
te:- (unspecified human object)
–
Incorporated nouns
40

41. Puzzle #3: reduplication
41

42. Reduplication in CN
CV:- reduplication
– Pluralization of certain animate nouns
– Continuative of verbs; intensification
CVʔ- reduplication
– Distributive of nouns
– Repetitive/distributive of verbs
CV- reduplication
– Highly lexical, often appears in onomatopoeic verbs
42

43. CVʔ- reduplication
čo:ka ‘cry’
→ čoʔ-čo:ka ‘cry repeatedly’
kal-li ‘house’
→ kaʔ-kal-li ‘various houses’
a:wiya ‘be happy’
→ aʔ-a:wiya ‘take pleasure’
“Marked heavy syllable” (Haugen 2003, 2004)
43

44. Base of reduplication
Inflectional affixes and incorporated items
are not included in the base of
reduplication
– Ø-mo-pa:kka:-weʔ-wetsk-i:tia-ʔ
(3S-REFL-joyful-REDUP-laugh-CAUS-PL)
‘they smile joyfully’
44

45. Lexicality
Reduplication in CN is a lexical process
Unpredictable meanings:
– wetska ‘laugh’ → weʔ-wetska ‘smile’
– nemi ‘live’ → neʔ-nemi ‘walk’
– no:tsa ‘call’ → noʔ-no:tsa ‘chat with (s.o.)’
– a:wilia: ‘entertain’ → aʔ-a:wilia: ‘caress’
45

46. (i)CC- stems sometimes behave as /iCC-/
and other times as /CC-/
What happens when (i)CC- stems
undergo reduplication?
46

47. Reduplication of (i)CC- stems
Generally, the /i/ behaves as part of the
base of reduplication
– n-on-ičteki (1sgS-DIR-steal) ‘I go steal things’
→ n-on-iʔ-ičteki (distributive)
• cf. ni-no-čteki-lia ‘I steal; I become a thief’
47

48. Reduplication of (i)CC- stems
λa- (and probably ne-) + (i)CC- stem:
(i)ʔtoa
‘say’
→ λa-ʔtoa
‘he says something’
→ λaʔ-λaʔtoa ‘he speaks a lot’
48

49. Reduplication of (i)CC- stems
(i)CC- stems other than (i)ʔC-:
m(o)- (reflexive) + (i)lpia: ‘tie, bind’
→ molpia ‘he binds himself’
→ moʔolpia
(*moʔmolpia, *moʔilpia, *miʔilpia)
49

50. Summary of (i)CCIntrinsic V-
(i)ʔC-
Other (i)CC-
+ tla-, ne-
tla-V-
tla-CC-
tla-CC-
+ m(o)-, etc.
m-V-
m-iCC-
mo-CC-
+ m(o)-, etc. with
CVʔ- reduplication
m-Vʔ-V-
m-iʔ-iCC-
moʔoCC-
+ te:-, etc.
te:-V-
te:-iCC-
te:-iCC-
“Intrinsic”-like
“Epenthetic”-like
The initial /i/ of (i)CC- sometimes behaves
like a non-epenthetic, intrinsic vowel
50

51. It is almost impossible to give a
phonological explanation of initial /i/’s in
(i)CC- stems
51

52. Puzzle #4: cyclicity
52

53. Explaining reduplication
What is the base of reduplicaton?
– Usually, reduplication occurs stem-internally
– However, reduplication of such forms as
mo-lpia (> moʔolpia) involves (part of) an
inflectional prefix
53

54. Paradox of process ordering
Epenthesis/deletion of initial /i/ occurs before
noun incorporation
– λa:ka- ‘person’ + (i)tta ‘see’
→ λa:kaitta ‘respect’ (*λa:katta)
Allomorphy of m(o)- etc. realizes after
incorporation
However, m(o)- etc. constitute the input of
reduplication (cf. mo-lpia > moʔolpia)
54

55. Paradox of process ordering
(i)CC- epenthesis > incorporation
Incorporation > affixation of m(o)- etc.
affixation of m(o)- etc. > (i)CC- epenthesis
55

56. Paradox of process ordering
Reduplication
Inflection
Incorporation
56

57. “i-drop” analysis: an alternative
The “epenthesis” analysis is intuitively
plausible, but has many formal problems
Most of these problems are limited to the
particular combination of items (e.g. (i)CCstems and a few prefixes)
57

58. i-drop as lexical processes
i-drop occurs in:
1.
λa- + (i)CC stem
2.
ne- + (i)CC stem
3.
Reflexive/possessive prefixes n(o)- etc. +
non-saltillo (i)CC stem
4. The reduplicated forms of 3
58

59. Lexicality of i-drop after λa-
A few (i)CC- verb/noun stems allow
alternative forms such as:
– (i)ʔmati ‘prepare’ > λaiʔmati ~ λaʔmati
– (i)ʔλakoa: ‘damage’ > λaiʔλakoa: ~ λaʔλakoa:
59

60. Genuine i-epenthesis?
A few (i)CC- forms “drop” the initial /i/
before an compounded noun or te:– (i)kpal- ‘seat’ >
a:ka-kpal- ‘reed mat’; šo-kpal- ‘sole of foot’
Real i-epenthesis?
60

61. Explaining the form moʔolpia
ilpia: > mo-lpia > moʔolpia
– Reduplication rules are sensitive to the left
border of the stem
– The original VCC- structure is retained after
i-drop (and the prefixation of m(o)-)
• [STEM ilp…] → m[STEM o-lp …] → moʔ-[STEM o-lp …]
– This i-drop does not occur in (i)ʔC- stems
61

62. Reduplication rules
Reduplication Rule 1 (CV-stem):
[STEM C1V1 → [STEM C1V1 ʔ - C1V1
Reduplication Rule 2 (V-stem):
[STEM V1 → [STEM V1 ʔ - V1
62

63. Reduplication of moʔolpia
Vowel Incorporation Rule:
V1[poss/refl] + [STEM iC1C2 → [STEM V1C1C2
C V
m o
[STEM V C C V
i
l
p
i
V
a
m(o)- + [STEM ilpia] → m-[STEM olpia]
Reduplication Rule 2:
[STEM V1 → [STEM V1 ʔ V1
molpia → moʔolpia
63

64. Remaining problem
Why is Vowel Incorporation Rule limited
to reflexive/possessive prefixes
(n(o)-, m(o)-, etc.)?
64

65. “Reactive” vs. “inert” prefixes
Verbal affixation template of Classical Nahuatl
Sbj.
Obj.
Dir.
Refl.
te:-
λa-
Refl.
n(i)- k(i)-
on-
n(o)-
te:-
λa-
ne-
←
“Reactive”
→
IN
Stem
TAM
Pl.
-s
-Ø
← “Inert” →
“Reactive” prefixes: morphosyntactic
– Contain φ-features (except for the directional prefixes)
– Irrelevant in derivation (e.g. deverbal noun formation)
“Inert” prefixes: lexical(?)
– Relevant in derivation
– Often lexicalized
65

66. Generalization of
Vowel Incorporation Rule
It can be assumed that Vowel
Incorporation Rule applies to all “reactive”
prefixes, since they are the only “reactive”
prefixes which end with a vowel
vs. n-, k-, on-, etc.
(cf. Tuggy’s (1981) epenthesis rule)
66

67. Reduplication of moʔolpia (revised)
Vowel Incorporation Rule (revised):
V1[reactive] + [STEM iC1C2 → [STEM V1C1C2
m(o)- + [STEM ilpia] → m-[STEM olpia]
Reduplication Rule 2:
[STEM V1 → [STEM V1 ʔ V1
molpia → moʔolpia
67

68. Remaining problems
How to exclude (i)ʔC- stems from the
Vowel Incorporation Rule?
How to motivate these rules?
More formalization is needed
68

69. (i)CC- and i-drop analysis
The complicated patterns of the
presence/absence of initial /i/ in (i)CCstems can more neatly be explained by
deletion (i-drop) analysis
69

70. Perhaps Carochi was correct
“From itta ‘see’ and with tla ‘something’,
ni-tla-tta ‘I see something’ [is formed],
because the initial i is absorbed into tla”
(Carochi 1645: f. 50r)
70

71. o:=an-ne:č-mo-kne:li-liʔ-keʔ
PRF=2PLS-1SGO-REFL-do.favor-APPL-PST.PLS
¡Muchísimas gracias!
71

72. References
Andrews, J Richard. 1975. Introduction to Classical Nahuatl. Austin: University of
Texas Press.
Carochi, Horacio. 1645. Arte de la lengua mexicana con la declaración de los
advervios della. Mexico: Juan Ruiz.
Haugen, Jason D. 2003. Morphology at the Interfaces. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Haugen, Jason D. 2004. Issues in Comparative Uto-Aztecan Syntax. Doctoral
dissertation, University of Arizona.
Itô, Junko. 1989. A prosodic theory of epenthesis. Natural Language and Linguistic
Theory 7: 217–259
Tuggy, David. 1981. Epenthesis of i in Classical and Tetelcingo Nahuatl. Texas
Linguistic Forum 18:223–255.
Tuggy, David. 1997. Rule-governed allomorphy can be suppletive also.
Workpapers of the Summer Institute of Linguistics 41.
72